(Yeah, that’s the expression on my face right about now. Complete and total shock that anything this awesome is happening.)

So, gorgeous readers, I need your help with something. I really want to see my sweet, sexy “fat girl book” find its own little spot on the Amazon top 100.

I don’t have much to offer you, but I think you might like what I *do* have – MORE CAT AND NATE SCENES!!!!

When we hit the top 100 (yes, you and me together) I’ll release a cut epilogue scene from Cat and Nate’s Spring Break back to California. There’s an old camp cabin, a picnic on a mountain, some horseback riding, and…well, if you know Cat and Nate, I’m sure you can guess what else will be in there *cough*SMEX*cough*

*grins*

So, spread the word, my loves! I can’t wait to show you that scene! And most of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for helping us get this far! You all are incredible.

I told you a few weeks ago I told you exactly why I was so proud to write Picture Perfect– a book about a girl in college struggling with body image – a so-called “fat-girl book.” I think a lot of us can identify with not feeling comfortable in our own skin.

Today, I’m so excited that Cat’s journey to learning about love – both for herself and others – and all the steamy stops along the way – is NOW AVAILABLE via Amazon and Barnes and Noble!!!!

And here’s what superstar Lyla Payne, author of Broken at Love, has to say about it:

“Picture Perfect is an engaging story about not only finding love, but finding ways to love yourself. It made me cry, then smile through my tears, and has earned a permanent place in my heart.” -Lyla Payne, bestselling author of Broken at Love.

I hope you enjoy reading, you stone-cold foxes! If you do, don’t forget to leave a review where you bought it and everywhere else too! It’s the best way to give an author a hug, kiss, or sexy wink.

Since then, reviews have been rolling in for PICTURE PERFECT from early readers, and there’s a common thread in their comments: “We’ve all felt like that,” “Everyone’s hated their body at some point,” “Girls will be able to identify with Cat.”

Which, on the one hand, is sad, right? I hate that so many – most, it seems – women have had the experience of hating their bodies.

I want to show you some photos of the inspiration for Cat Mitchell and, well, the whole story, really. This is Lizzie Miller.

Isn’t she gorgeous? She’s a typical plus-sized model, but she became really famous when she did a shoot for Glamour magazine, and they published this candid shot:

Belly roll! Never before seen in the pages of a fashion magazine!

Glamour really took a gamble when posting this picture, and you know what? It really paid off. People wrote in to the magazine, thanking them for publishing a photo of what a real woman looks like.

Now, a lot of you have said that size 12 isn’t big. And it’s not. But for Cat, my main character, who used to look like this:

You can see how the change would be tough. Right?
So. Getting down to business.

I know that so many women have these stories, of their bodies growing and changing and losing confidence, losing a sense of beauty. Maybe they got it back, and maybe they’re still trying hard to get there.

I want to hear them. I think we ALL want to hear them.

SO here’s what we’re gonna do, you gorgeous foxes.If you’re okay with it, email your story to me at authoralessandrathomas@gmail.com. Do it by THIS FRIDAY, March 15th. Tell me everything – yeah, EVERYTHING – you’re comfortable with. If you’re okay with me posting it on this blog, let me know, and I will.

My fellow author friends and I will pick a few that really speak to us, and put them up here on the blog. Then you, my gorgeous readers, will pick your favorite two, and I’ll put them in the back of PICTURE PERFECT.

Because Cat’s fictional, but she sure as hell is based on thousands of real girls. And I want their voices to be heard too.